On an overcast night at Thompson Speedway, points leader Tom Ogle overcame having to start dead last in a field of 22 “ground pounders” to take the checkered flag in Tuesday night’s Connecticut 150. Things looked grim at the start of the race. Ogle had accumulated his third warning in Round 5 at Martinsville. This meant he received a penalty and had to grid up last for Round 6. However, one aspect was introduced in Round 6 that would help change his fortunes. A mandatory pitstop. This rule, coupled with two very early cautions, meant many drivers starting in the rear of the field pitted early within the first 10 laps of the race. Drivers near the front of the field like pole winner Ryan Pittman, Brian Johnson, and Brian Bianchi, stayed out to keep their premium track position knowing that stopping later in the race was a better bet. What transpired was a 131-lap green flag run that saw no cautions from lap 9 on. As Ogle methodically worked his way through the field, along with Jerry Isaacs and Lloyd Moore, the reality began to set in for the front runners. They needed to stop to fulfill the rule requirement. Some drivers waited until the waning laps to “pull the trigger,” but ultimately, they had to stop leaving Isaacs as leader with Ogle in hot pursuit. With 2 laps to go Ogle made his move and passed Isaacs to take the victory. “I knew I wouldn’t have anything for him (Ogle) if he got around me. Earlier in the race I had hit the wall pretty hard, and my car was a bit off the rest of the race. If it wasn’t for that I think I might have been faster than Tom, or at least on pace with him,” Isaac said in the post-race interview. Ogle crossed the line 72 one-thousandths of a second ahead of Isaacs to take the checkered flag. Thie tightest victory margin thus far in the Series. “I want to thank the YesterYear Racing™ Director and admin team for putting me at the back of the field tonight. It turned out to be great for me and the strategy of pitting early certainly paid off,” Ogle said in his post-race interview.
The Series has a 3-week break before continuing the 3-race New England stint by heading to Stafford Motor Speedway on June 25, 2024, for the Camden Classic. Ogle extended his points lead over Pittman to 57 points. Bianchi, third in the standings, is only a single point behind Pittman. Nine races remain in the 2024 season.
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